Posted 1 year ago on Jan. 17, 2014, 10:48 p.m. EST by redandproud
(17)
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This is a message to all the people who call themselves liberals or still put their faith in the Democratic Party.

All major change that has ever been achieved has been achieved by radicals.

Radical is not a dirty word. Radical does not have to mean violent. Radical means that you understand that the cause of social ills today is systematic. It is not the fault of a few greedy people or companies; it's a problem with the way the economy works in general. Raising taxes and creating a few silly programs won't fix these problems.

Capitalism doesn't need to be "regulated" or "kept in check". It needs to be abolished altogether. Period. Human beings have been creative and productive long before capitalism and will be long after it.

BTW I am NOT saying we need to "work for free" or be angels or mega-altruists. It's out of self-interest, it's IN THE SELF-INTEREST OF THE WORKER, that we must support a society free of the insanity of capitalism.

I'm a proud socialist and I think the Marxist method and Marxist thought are being proved correct now in this period of crisis. We socialists and communists were a major force before WW2, involved in pretty much every major labor struggle or anti-racist struggle. Don't be afraid to call yourself a "radical".

Alice Paul of the NWP, the woman who was sent to prison for protesting for women's suffrage, and who was forcefed and tortured even though President Wilson was fully aware of what was happening, was a RADICAL. The abolitionists of the antebellum United States were RADICALS.

I agree with much of what you say but i wonder how helpful this line is. we need concrete action and concrete steps that can be taken now. ranting about the evils of capitalism and advocating communism will alienate the people that we need to reach to make real change. we have a long way to go to get to a just society (whether that is capitalist or communist). what we need to focus on are the small steps needed to get started down that road.

Agreed, I believe in concrete steps. Kinda like the election of Sawant to the Seattle City Council. We need to shift from the Democratic Party to electoral socialist parties, which will set the stage for workers' empowerment.

I guess what I mean to say is that they are not really leftists by conventional standards. "The left" has almost always referred to the radical left. In some countries if you say you're a leftist, it's understood that you're a radical.

By "Radical" I mean radical left, aka socialists and communists and anarchists.

Liberals and Democrats are bourgeois reformists. Their objective is not the abolition of capitalism. Thus, they are ultimately enemies of the working-class. The danger with them, however, is that their policies pacify working class unrest. Concessions aren't worth it IMO

Capitalists are bad whether they're "left" wing or right wing. IMO Democrats and liberals are right-leaning, so your point is irrelevant.

In mathematics, a radical is the square root symbol. Somebody who is a radical believes in change at the root, i.e. fundamental change. Historically, "radicals" have always been leftist anti-capitalists.

We can replace the word "radical" if you like, but I don't see the point. Anyways, liberals and Democrats are not radicals and do not believe in fundamental change since they preserve the capitalist system.

No, it isn't radical because radical refers to LEFTISTS only. We're just arguing about words, now. Fine, call it whatever you want, but the point is the Democrats are CAPITALISTS and workers should support SOCIALISM so Democrats are the enemies of workers.

Well when I said "radical" I mean only radical leftists. Got it? We've been over this several times.

Liberals should not be involved with OWS because liberals support the preservation of capitalism, and capitalism is inherently unstable and destructive. So liberals could not possibly support the goals of OWS without opposing capitalism.